Keepin touch

Whether you have a question, comment, suggestion or any problem in the purview of the government, send us your message and we will try to respond as soon as possible. If your problem is not in our purview, we will forward your message to the relevant institution.

The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Anniversary of March pogrom against Serbs in Kosovo marked

Belgrade, 17 March 2022

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic stated tonight that the March pogrom was a systematic and planned action of ethnic cleansing of Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija, led by KLA extremists, during which six towns and ten villages were ethnically cleansed in 48 hours.

At a commemorative ceremony marking the Remembrance Day of 17 March 2004 - the Pogrom in Kosovo and Metohija, held at the National Theatre in Belgrade, Brnabic said that at least 19 people were killed, about a thousand injured, around 4,000 Serbs were expelled, 800 Serbian houses destroyed and 35 religious sites were set on fire.

The Prime Minister said that during the pogrom Serbs were mercilessly killed - just because they were Serbs.

Even the dead Serbs were deprived of peace, because cemeteries were also attacked, while the names of the deceased were erased from written history. Even after so many years, there are 200,000 internally displaced persons outside Kosovo and Metohija, the Prime Minister pointed out.

She recalled that the international forces did not do nearly enough to fulfil their mandate from UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

In the events of 17 March 2004, the destruction of churches and monasteries was especially terrible. None of the destroyed monasteries was completely saved. Our Lady of Ljevis, where candles have been lit since the time of Serbian kings, was attacked by extremists on those terrible days, she said.

The Prime Minister stated that since the end of the armed conflicts in Kosovo and Metohija in 1999, 150 Orthodox churches and monasteries have been destroyed and burned, many of which date from the 13th and 14th centuries.

More than 10,000 icons and religious objects were destroyed and stolen. 256 Orthodox cemeteries were destroyed. The Decani Monastery and Our Lady of Ljevis are on the UNESCO List of World Heritage in Danger, the Prime Minister recalled.

Brnabic underlined that Serbia of today is incomparably stronger than it was that unfortunate year of 2004.

Today, Serbia is the economic leader of the region, but also the pillar of peace and stability in the region. Serbia is a country looking to the future, committed to a stronger region. It was that Serbia, led by President Aleksandar Vucic, that launched the "Open Balkans" initiative, in order to connect our region. Only through cooperation in the region can we achieve a better future for our children, Brnabic pointed out.

The Prime Minister pointed out that Serbia will continue to offer a hand of reconciliation to everyone in the region.

But also, rest assured that Serbia will never allow the tragic events of 17 March 2004 to happen again. Nor anything similar to the operation Storm. We remember all the victims, and we share in their pain. Our hearts are with our people in Kosovo and Metohija tonight, whose courage we admire, the Prime Minister underlined.

She said that Serbia will know how to preserve peace and stability during the war, but also that our people will never be alone and without the protection of their government, President and the state.

During the commemorative ceremony, a drama programme was shown, which evoked the atmosphere of fear that prevailed among Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija just before the eruption of violence.